Judge Says Orland Hills Has Right To 25 Acres

Forced Annexation By Orland Park Voided

September 25, 1998|By Diana Strzalka and Charles Stanley. Special to the Tribune.

The three-year David-and-Goliath battle between Orland Park and the much smaller village of Orland Hills over which town had the right to annex a 25-acre parcel was settled in court this week in favor of Orland Hills.

Cook County Circuit Judge Robert Boharic sided with the parcel's owners, who wanted to annex to Orland Hills, over Orland Park's right to forcibly annex the land, Ken Friker, Orland Park village attorney, said Thursday.

"Illinois case law gives preference to voluntary annexations over involuntary annexations," he said.

Unless Orland Park, which has more than 40,000 residents, decides to appeal Wednesday's ruling, the land on the north side of 167th Street about a half-mile west of La Grange Road will remain in Orland Hills, which as about 6,000 residents.

"It's a big day in Orland Hills, because we get to expand," said Orland Hills Mayor Kyle Hastings.

The property is bordered on three sides by Orland Park and by county forest preserve land on the fourth.

The Orland Park Village Board has not met to review the court ruling or to decide whether to appeal. Mayor Dan McLaughlin and Village Manager Rick Boehm did not return phone calls Thursday.

Friker said the ruling surprised him because it was Orland Park's argument that Orland Hills had improperly annexed the land, which is not directly contiguous to the village except through the forest preserve.

Getting to the parcel from Orland Hills means crossing La Grange Road, going about a half-mile through the forest preserve, then making a right turn north to the 25-acre parcel, he said.

Friker acknowledged Orland Hills' right to annex through the forest preserve, but he said Orland Hills stretched the law's intent by curving around Orland Park land.

In November 1995, the owners of the parcel approached Orland Hills, which annexed the land.

Claiming the annexation was invalid, Orland Park sued Orland Hills.

In July 1996, Orland Park forcibly annexed the land, ignoring the Orland Hills annexation. Like any other municipality, Orland Park is allowed to forcibly annex parcels of less than 60 acres that are surrounded by the municipality, Friker said.

For the owners of the parcel, the desire to become part of Orland Hills rather than Orland Park came down to which village had more favorable zoning laws.

One of the owners, Bob Duffek, had proposed bringing in a developer to build as many as 16 residential units per acre on the land, which Orland Hills allows. But Orland Park's zoning laws would have allowed only one-fourth as many units.

McLaughlin, Orland Park's mayor, has said that this was the key issue in the land dispute and that he wanted the area to be developed within Orland Park's residential planning guidelines, which call for 2.5 to 4 units per acre.

He also has said it doesn't make sense for Orland Hills to annex the land because it will be costly for the village to extend water pipes across four-lane LaGrange Road to the property.

But Hastings, the Orland Hills mayor, said he is anxious to extend the village's borders. "Being a small town, we could use the additional property," he said.

"We are going to sit down with the land owners, talk about their options and then go full speed ahead."